Daycare and the Great American Divide

• In Event: 1283 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 09. Parenting, Childcare, and its Costs

Abstract

The sociology of inequality expounds exclusion as a universal mechanism of poverty. In the case of child care, I find an alternative narrative. Extant research has reported divergent findings on the role of child care among poor families: that the poor are both surrounded by supportive child care centers and face difficulty in finding safe and high quality care. My work reconciles this conflict. Drawing on a mixed-methods study of the contemporary American child care system, I find that government child care assistance programs are working for the poorest families. Poor mothers connected to the formal welfare system seamlessly access child care vouchers and child care centers populate poor neighborhoods at similar rates to wealthy neighborhoods. Yet institutional inclusion in theory differs from institutional inclusion in practice. Conflicting institutional logics and competing daily logistics related to their poverty complicate poor families’ ability to find and maintain care. These difficulties inhibit economic opportunities for poor mothers and have potential implications for their children’s wellbeing. If child care operates like a springboard for wealthy mothers’ economic progress, child care for poor mothers remains an anchor.

Author

• Jennifer Bouek, Brown University